2020 Vision

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which God has called you. - Ephesians 1:18

Here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind. – Gandhi

Knowing it and seeing it are two different things. ― Suzanne Collins

When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid. ― Audre Lorde

The Bible is filled with stories of healing particularly stories of Jesus healing those who are blind. I tend to

think of these stories as metaphorical, yet I struggle reading them because I feel that these stories might

encourage us to think that people who are differently abled are some how inferior and are often outcasts in

society not just in Biblical times but now too. Now though I believe that Jesus healed people not because

someone who is blind is inferior but because by healing those who are blind (or any of the other healings

Jesus performed) restores those who live with those particular differences back to full inclusion and

belonging in their families and communities. So who is actually the “blind” person in these stories? Perhaps

it is those of us who would see someone different than us as inferior.

This past year has given us many opportunities as a congregation, community and as a nation to observe

some hard truths about who we are, to have the blinders removed from our eyes. The truth is many of us

rather live with blinders on than to open ourselves up to see what is true for those who are different from us.

What I have observed is that many of us, at best, feel – overwhelmed, disempowered and apathetic and at

worst despairing, fearful and hopeless. Many of us live our lives not seeing ourselves as God’s sees us –

good, beloved and called.

Our faith calls us to a vision of the future that sees all as good, beloved and called even and especially when

our 20/20 vision clearly shows us “the hard stuff.” It shows us how to use this 20/20 vision to create a 2020

vision for the future that is fully centered on seeing with the eyes of the heart. So I invite you to live into

these questions in 2020:

1. How are we, as followers of Jesus, called to remove our blinders and bear witness in

the world?

2. How might we use the turning of this new decade to envision who we want to be to

each other, in our community and in the world?

My simple prayer for 2020 - Loving God, open the eyes of our hearts and help us see you as the way to

bringing and being more love in this world. Amen.

NORTH STAR STEEPLE JANUARY 2020

United Community Church, UCC

website: uccstj.com email: UnitedCommunityChurchUCC@gmail.com

Pastor Elisa

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Church Council meets January 15 at 6 pm.

Worship & Care Ministry meets Outreach Ministry meets Stewardship Ministry meets February 2 after church Spiritual Formation and Nurture Ministry meets

Acting Moderator: Pam Dearborn Assistant Moderator: Treasurer: Elisa Rowell Assistant Treasurer: Julie Brisson Clerk: Jeannette Keenan Assistant Clerk: Betty Keller At Large Church Council: Roger Damon Pam Smart Outreach Ministry Spiritual Formation Stewardship Ministry Worship and Care Betty Keller and Nurture Ministry Brent Beck Joe Haines Alice Kitchel Jackie Abella Greg Brown Bree Morse Vicki Scherer Kathleen Haines Ed Magnus Beth Norris Erika Thompson John Raser Kris Norris Karen Sayles

Special worship services coming up January 19—Joint Worship Service with the UU Congregation at United Community Church. Worship will be led by Pastor Elisa and Rev. Susan-Lynn Johns. A joint choir will be presenting the anthem. Choir rehearsal begins at 9 am and worship is at 10 am.

January 26—Worship service to be led by Dr. Claire Bamberg. Following the wor-ship service and a short fellowship time will be the Annual Meeting of United Com-munity Church, UCC. The warning of this meeting is on page 5. Bring finger food to share and plan on sharing your ideas of the future of United Community Church.

February 2—Communion Sunday and Noisy Collection. Bring your change for the noisy collec-tion. These noisy coins help to fund the discretionary fund which “Reach Out” uses to help those in need.

February 9—Blanket Sunday. Bring back your M&M mini candies container with your quarters. Each container will hold $10 worth of quarters which is the amount is costs for a Church World Service Blanket. If you wish to donate a blanket specif-ically in honor or memory of a special “love,” let the office know and we will be glad to send a card, either via snail mail or email, recognizing your donation.

February 26—Ash Wednesday. Plans are being made to celebrate the beginning of Lent.

Thank you to all who provided

poinsettias for the Advent and

Christmas Season. Special

thanks also to Carew Magnus and

her crew for the wonderful deco-

rations around the sanctuary.

They were greatly appreciated.

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Ministry Reports

Worship & Care

January brings Epiphany, remembrance of Jesus’ baptism, and the beginning of Je-sus’ ministry. As we begin the calendar year, consider adding a visit to a home bound member as your new year resolu-tion. The office has a list of persons who would love a visit once a month or so. On January 19, we will again try for a joint worship service with the UU church. Remember last year when we were snowed out! Let’s hope for better weather this year. A joint choir will rehearse will be at 9 am with wor-ship at 10 am.

Outreach

Looking ahead to Valentine’s Day we have a special gift you can give. We will be handing out special

M&M containers filled with chocolate candies. The candies are for you and the container is to be filled with quarters. It should hold $10 worth of quarters to be donated to Church World Service for blankets. Containers can be returned when filled—by Valen-tine’s Day if possible. Can we donate a blanket from every family?

Spiritual Formation & Nurture

The “Angels Among Us” small group study was a great success. We had our final get together with a pot luck while we watched the final video. We had a wonderful intergenerational gathering where we made our own angels. The Inter-generational Spiritual Formation gathering in January will being exploring the different parts of the worship service and how we implement them in our worship service.

Stewardship

After much discussion, it was decided to present the same budget from last year. We are still trying to get a handle on the expens-es and income related to the church and also to the apartments. Melanie has done a great job separating expenditures and income so we can see how we are doing. We are still looking at taking monies out of the endow-ment. The investments are being looked at and we hope to combine all of them together

so we can better understand our financial position. The use of our building continues to grow and we are investigating ways that the groups can help us main-tain our building. Suggestions are always helpful so if you have ideas, let one of the stewardship ministry members know. The investment committee has put together an Investment Policy.

Hospitality The third Sunday Hospitality Schedule for 2020 through June. The church will provide coffee, tea, juice, cream & sugar and the paper products. Small cards in-dicating the nature of the food would be

helpful especially listing Gluten-free items and No nuts. Please be mindful of nut/peanut allergies includ-ing peanut oil.

Host/Hostess List through June 2020 January 19 Magnus family, Rowe family February 16 Phil Brown family, Dianne Wyllie March 15 Alice Kitchel, Pam Smart April 19 Pam Dearborn, Gail Waarnar May 17 Turo family, tba June 21 Brown/Koelewijn family, tba

Reach Out

We first want to thank you for all of the generous donations of food to Ted and Frannie’s Gift. The response to this was overwhelming and we will be able to help so many people. We were also blessed this year with the donation of 25 Christmas trees from Rev. Bob Potter. These trees were such a wonderful gift to struggling families. During December we as-sisted many people; 14 bags of diapers, 8 gas cards, 1 baby formula, and 2 families with gifts from Ted and Frannie. The noisy collection added $66 to the discre-tionary fund in December. January’s noisy collection was $49.

Apartments

Spray foaming insulation was completed in the basements of 19 and 24 Steeple Place. This was able to be completed with the support of a grant from Efficiency Vermont.

They have given us several ideas on making our apart-ments more efficient and they will be implemented over the next few months. Have you checked with Vermont Efficiency to see how you can make your home more efficient?

Have you visited our Facebook page? UnitedCommunityChurchUCC

When was the last time you checked out the website? UCCSTJ.com

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January’s multi generational Spiritual Formation class will be held on January 12th. All are invited. Pick up your coffee after church and come upstairs for our dis-cussions.

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Annual Meeting set for January 26, 2020

Annual Meeting of United Community Church is scheduled for January 26, 2020. Come prepared to talk about our future and how we might get there. Following a worship service led by Dr. Claire Bamberg we will have a short fellowship time and then convene the annual meeting. Please plan on bringing some finger food to hold the hunger off while we discuss the future of United Community Church. Child care will be provided for those who need it. Dr. Claire Bamberg will be facilitating our meeting.

“The Rev. Dr. Claire Bamberg Founder and CEO, Potentials Coaching and Consulting Senior Consult-ant, Center for Progressive Renewal Claire is an ordained minister (D.Min.) in the UCC, a licensed mental health professional (LMFT) in three states, a certified mediator and a Master Certified Coach (MCC) with membership in the International Coach Federation. She is Vice-President elect of the Board of Directors of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. Claire has in excess of 35 years of ex-perience consulting with a wide variety of secular businesses, and within denominational systems. She brings a wealth of experience to the world of coaching and consulting. She excels in the areas of organi-zational and family systems, executive, marital and individual coaching and consulting. She has served both UCC and UUA churches in several states as a redevelopment, transitional, interim and settled min-ister, and has founded and run two pastoral counseling centers, respectively. She has served as a coach to many business executives, directors and boards, their employees, congregations, and individuals - both lay and ordained. Dr. Bamberg is passionate about empowering individuals and systems to discov-er and claim their best “selves” and she also brings that passion to bear in her role as coach and con-sultant. She works diligently and carefully in the area of conflict transformation and is a Systems expert. Claire holds her M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School and her Doctorate in Ministry from Christian Theological Seminary. She is on the training faculty of Coaching for Clergy and is a Senior Consultant with The Center for Progressive Renewal.”

***** WARNING: ***** ANNUAL MEETING OF UNITED COMMUNITY CHURCH

January 26, 2020 The Members of United Community Church are hereby warned of the Annual Meeting of the Congregation to

be held at 11:30 AM on January 26, 2020 at United Community Church. ARTICLE 1: Shall the members of the church accept the minutes of the previous congregational meetings contained in the Annual Meeting Report? ARTICLE 2: Shall the members receive, discuss, and approve the reports contained in the Annual Meeting Report? ARTICLE 3: Shall the members approve the budget presented by the Stewardship Committee for the period of January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020? ARTICLE 4: Shall the members elect the slate of officers and members of the Ministries and Church Council presented in the Annual Meeting Report? (To be handed out at the Annual Meeting on January 26, 2020) ARTICLE 5: Shall the members consider any other business that may be presented at the meeting?

January 5

Jeremiah 31:7-14

Psalm 147:12-20

Ephasians 1:3-14

John 1:1-18

January 12

Isaiah 42:1-9

Psalm 29

Acts 10:34-43

Matthew 3:13-17

January 19

Isaiah 49:1-7

Psalm 40:1-11

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

John 1:29-42

January 26

Isaiah 9:1-4

Psalm 27:1, 4-9

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Matthew 4:12-23

January Lectionary Texts

The Horton Center brochures for Summer camp adventures have arrived. There are over 20 different offerings for various age groups from ages 6 to adult. The Horton Center is owned and operated by the New Hampshire Con-ference of the United Church of Christ. More information can be found at

HortonCenter@nhcucc.org or by calling 603-545-9660. The Vermont Conference UCC and the Horton Center partner to offer a camp session in Vermont at Rock Point in Burlington. Counselors are always needed and can email the Horton Center for an application.

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Church World Service Blankets are always in need. Outreach is sponsoring a Valentine’s blanket gift. See their article about the M&M quarter collection for Valentine’s Day. Can you help? The following is an email we received from Matthew Stevens, director of Congregational giving, CWS. We were part of the many kits given out. More information is at www. cwsglobal.org

Hi friends, We made it to 2020! In celebration of this new year, I want to share an encouraging highlight from 2019. Because of your compassion last year, CWS shipped close to 100,000 kits into the hands of families who desperately needed each hand-assembled package of supplies (you can see the full report here: cwskits.org/stories-and-reports). Thank you!

I’m praying that this new decade is even further defined by an outpouring of love. With your help, it will be. Will your congregation commit to making that a reality in 2020? If your answer is yes, I encourage you to vis-it cwskits.org/help. This page was made to help congregations plan ahead for your hands-on kit ministries in 2020. Your ministries build out prayerful responses to disasters, poverty and hard times. And your kits remind families that they are not alone.

Thank you for blessing this new decade and each family we reach out to together, Matthew Stevens

Diaper Bank United Community Church is a depot for donated diapers of all sizes. They do not need to be new packages, unopened packages. There is a need for diapers from infants through size 6. We can also use dried formula in unopened cans. If you have either diapers or formula or know of someone who has some they are not using, consider donating them.

Kingdom Community Services Food Shelf Items for the food shelf can be left in the basket by the monthly bulletin board. The KCS Food Shelf has a real need for canned vegetables and fruits. Besides food items, we are in need of household products such as toilet paper, paper towels, toiletries, de-tergent, dish soap, etc. We always need help for lunch at the Wednesday Community Lunch. We especially could use assistance in prep on Tuesday mornings and clean up after the lunch. If you can help out, it would be greatly appreciated. You needn’t com-mit to every week but come when you can. We appreciate your help in this on-going effort of feeding our neighbors. Thank You, Ellie Dole, KCS Food Shelf Manager,

802-751-8581, open Tues and Thurs noon to 3:45

Noisy Collection will be collected on the first Sunday of the month. The discretionary fund is the recipient of this offering. The discretionary fund purchases gas cards and as-sists persons in need. Let your change make a change in someone’s life!

Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Besides our joint service with the UU congregation, there are a couple of other special events to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. At the Highland Center for the Arts in Greensboro on Saturday, January 18 at 7 pm, the East Coast Inspirational Singers will be performing works that bring to life the sound and spirit of Dr. King’s dream. Their performance of har-

mony and spirit of Gospel, R&B, Pop, Broadway, Jazz and Blues also includes a multimedia presentation in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his achievements. Tickets are $20, Seniors are $16 and Students are $10.

Sunday, January 19 at 4 pm at the Faith United Methodist Church in South Burlington there will be an Ecu-menical Prayer Service and Dinner. Sponsored by Vermont Ecumenical Council, the preacher will be The Rev. Jill Colley Robinson, District Superintendent Vermont District, New England conference United Meth-odist Church. A light ecumenical supper will follow the service. All are welcome. For more information con-tact The Rev. Dr. Frederick Moser: fredmoser@trinityshelburne.org

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Body & Soul by Rosanne Hebert, RN Faith Community Nurse

Happy New Year!

I received this information concerning Glaucoma disease from the Wellness Minis-tries of the United Community Church. It was extremely timely as January is Glau-coma Awareness Month. I wanted to share this information with all of you because early detection is vital to stopping the progress of Glaucoma. Please take a moment and read this important information about this disease. “Glaucoma is the leading

cause of irreversible blindness. Glaucoma has been called “the sneak thief of sight” since there are no symp-toms and once vision is lost, it’s permanent. As much as 40% of vision can be lost without a person notic-ing. You are considered at high-risk for Glaucoma if one or more of these apply to you:”

You have diabetes

You have a family history of glaucoma

You are African American and age 50 or older

You are Hispanic and age 65 or older

Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) covers glaucoma tests once every 12 months if you meet the high-risk criteria for glaucoma. You are responsible for 20% of Medicare’s payment to the provider for the ser-vices or, if care is sought in a hospital outpatient setting, a standard copayment.”

Free information about types of glaucoma, diagnosis, and treatment can be found at https://www.preventblindness.org/glaucoma

Self-help tools and resource links to low vision organizations, services and websites can be found at the Living Well with Low Vision webpage of Prevent Blindness: https://lowvision.preventblindness.org/

So please consider having a glaucoma test your eyes will thank you!

Announcing the opening of “Soul to Sole” our new FREE Foot Care Clinic each Thursday, beginning, January 2, 2020

Ministry of the United Community Church.

Care is by appointment only call 802 424-0325 Come take a look at the new space it is located at 56 Church Street.

Basic foot care is not covered by Medicare or insur-ance; it is considered an out of pocket expense. Each foot care nurse is an independent contractor and sets their rates. At this time, we are offering services FREE. Your charge will be covered by donations sustained by the Faith Community Nursing Pro-ject. (However, donations, both big and small, are

graciously accepted to continue offering these ser-vices for free.)

An appointment time may vary in duration depend-ing on the client's need & frequency of service (estimate 30 to 45 mins). Please plan on the first ap-pointment, taking 1 hour. Soul to Soles mission is to make professional, affordable basic foot care availa-ble to all especially seniors and high-risk patients.

So, no matter where your feet have taken you on life's journey, you're welcome here.

Blessings and peace, Rosanne, Faith Community Nurse

Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Defend the rights of the poor and needy.

—Proverbs 31:8-9

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Expired Coupons Help US Military Families

US military commissaries overseas accept expired coupons up to six months past their expiration so don’t throw away those expired or unwanted coupons. Bring them to church and put them in the collection contain-er created by Mary Leadbeater. From United Community Church they will be sent to a satellite collection point and then divided up to be delivered to overseas military families and commissaries.

Electronic giving is available through our website or there is a mobile version of our Online Donation page from your smart phone. Simply scan the image you see here using your phone’s QR reader. We hope you will find this electronic option for giving easy and convenient. We thank you for your continued support of United Community Church and our mission!

Open Letter to ONA churches:

Dear Open and Affirming family:

The second decade of the 21st century was a time of unprec-

edented growth for our movement ------- in numbers and in the depth

of our commitment to build a church and a world where all of God's

children are needed, wanted, and loved. On New Year's eve, 2009,

there were 847 ONA churches. Today, there are 1,600 Open

and Affirming congregations and ministries in the United

Church of Christ. In the past decade, the Coalition has reinvented

our relationship with existing ONA churches: our extensive training

programs, including workshops and webinars, are helping congregations revive their ONA commitment and

learn new ways to advocate and grow. When a congregation adopts an ONA covenant, our work is just be-

ginning: we want to support each and every church on its ONA journey. Every church we reach is a victo-

ry of life over death: ONA churches have saved countless lives, but our work is not complete until not

just 33 percent, but 100 percent of our beloved church is a safe community for LGBTQ seekers and

their families. We receive no regular funding from the church's national budget. You will decide if we can

reach our goal of 1,700 ONA churches and ministries by the end of 2020, and equip our congregations to

resist the tide of transphobia and homophobia that is threatening our community. Help us to ring in the new

year by giving what you can. With your help, we will re-make the future of the United Church of Christ.

Yours in hope, Andy Lang, Executive Director ONA

Christmas Fund Aids Retired Clergy and lay employees

A big THANK YOU to all who do-nated to The Christmas Fund, one of the five Special Mission Offerings of the United Church of Christ. It pro-vides UCC congregations and mem-bers an opportunity to reach out in kindheartedness to those who have faithfully shepherded our Church and who now find themselves facing unexpected financial needs. Serving small churches throughout their career is a common reason retired pastors have insufficient retirement income. Gifts to the Christmas fund help the grow-ing number of retirees whose low-income annuities make it difficult to

meet increasing living costs. The Christmas fund makes a difference in the lives of our United Church of Christ retired pastors and their surviving spouses, easing the anxiety of constant financial worries.

The Light shines in the Darkness

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In our Thoughts

Nellie Boulet

Robin Burnash

Bob Chapman

Shari Fleming

Dawn Gallagher

Ellen Goss

And Prayers

Elise Grime

Jenna O’Farrell & family

Darline Reynolds

Margaret Ryan

Mary St. Peter

Pam & Henry Smart

If we have missed your birthday or anniversary please let either Barbara or Erika

know at 802-748-2603 or UnitedCommunityChurchUCC@gmail.com

January Volunteers:

January 19 Carew & Ed Magnus,

Stephanie & Alan Rowe

Marcialito

Rodriguez-Arenal 1/2

Erika Thompson 1/4

Nathan Amos 1/8

Jeannette Mayo 1/10

Gail Roberts 1/12

Kathy Roosa 1/12

Chris Brown 1/14

Beth Norris 1/15

Nancy Reynolds 1/17

Leo Merchant 1/18

James Stock 1/20

Roger Damon 1/21

Sarah Amos 1/23

JoAnn Gieselman 1/25

Liam Tobin 1/25

Marilyn Moulton 1/29

Liza Sprout 1/29

Brad King 1/30

1/17 Donna and Dennis Goodhue

Nancy and Jay Sprout

December 24, 2019

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Staff

Pastor Rev. Elisa Lucozzi Music Director /Organist Barbara Connelly Handbell Director Phil Brown Secretaries Barbara Connelly, Erika Thompson Building Manager Paul Bergeron Faith Community Nurse Rosanne Hebert, RN Office Hours Tuesday– Friday 9 am- 2 pm

Contact Information United Community Phone number 748-2603 Email UnitedCommunityChurchUCC@gmail.com Pastor’s email pastoruccstj@gmail.com Faith Community Nurse email

nekfaithcommunityrn@gmail.com

United Community Church

United Church of Christ

1325 Main Street

St. Johnsbury, VT 05819

Day Meetings at UCC

Twin State Network Thursday, 2nd, 5:30 pm Neighborhood potluck Thursday, 2nd, 6 pm Foodbank delivery Thursday, 9th, 9 am Angels Among Us potluck Thursday, 9th, 5 pm Spiritual Formation Sunday 12th, 11:30 am Asylum Support Group Monday, 13th, 5 pm DART 2.0 Tuesday, 14th, 5 pm Psychotherapist meeting Wednesday, 15th, 8 am Hilltoppers Quilters & CraftersWednesday, 15th, 1 pm Twin State Network Thursday, 16th, 5:30 pm Continua Monday, 20th, 6 pm Dowsers Saturday, 25th, 9 am Vermont Worker’s Center Saturday, 25th, 10 am Hilltoppers Quilters & CraftersWednesday, 29th, 1 pm Community Dinner Thursday, 30th, 5 pm Twin State Network Thursday, 30th, 5:30 pm

Sunday Worship Services 10am Choir Rehearsals—Sunday mornings 9 am

Health & Rehab Service January 19 2 pm

Bible Study Wednesdays, 9 am

Weekly Meetings at UCC

AA Mon. Tues., Wed., Thurs., Fri. 12 noon AFEP Mon., Wed., Fri. 1:30 pm Early Music Mondays, 11 am String Group Mondays, 4 pm Tai chi Tuesdays, 1 pm Global Campus Wednesdays, 9 am Community Lunch Wednesdays, 11 am Alanon Saturdays, 9 am Community Center - all week 7 am—Noon begins November 15

Joint UCC and UU Worship Service January 19, 2020

10 am Joint choir rehearsal 9 am